


Fur-eign Aid

by celtic7irish



Category: Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Not A Fix-It, Post End-game, ambiguous ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:40:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22597957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celtic7irish/pseuds/celtic7irish
Summary: During a battle between the Avengers and MODOK and his pack of wolves, help arrives from an unexpected quarter.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Avengers Team
Comments: 7
Kudos: 24
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	Fur-eign Aid

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Fur-eign Aid  
> Card Number: 3013  
> Square Filled: A5 - Wolf  
> Ship/Main Pairing: None  
> Rating: G  
> Major Tags: Post End-Game, Not-A-Fix-It (Yet)  
> Summary: During a battle between the Avengers and MODOK and his pack of wolves, help arrives from an unexpected quarter.  
> Word Count: 2525+

“MODOK will defeat the Avengers! MODOK will tear them apart!” The giant head was screeching from his perch in the air, waving his tiny fists and just generally making a nuisance of himself. The wolves on the ground, however, were more of a threat than the Avengers might have anticipated, their pack mentality combined with MODOK’s mind controlling abilities making them both more aggressive, and highly efficient. Apparently the villain had decided that humans were too much trouble, especially after Peter and Shuri had come up with a tiny device that they could sew into their uniforms that would render MODOK’s mind control effectively useless. SHIELD had set up a perimeter to keep civilians far enough away from the battle that they wouldn’t get pulled into the fray.

“Does that thing never shut up?” Bucky Barnes muttered from his perch on a nearby roof, his sniper rifle nearly silent as he fired another shot, taking down another wolf. Sam flew past, the shield on his arm carving a path between the wolves, momentarily scattering them so Peter could web them. Wanda’s magic curled red through the pack, causing confusion. Unfortunately, the wolves had quickly figured out that Wanda’s illusions didn’t have a scent, and had started using their noses and ears to track the Avengers’ movements.

“Not unless you knock him out,” Rhodey replied tersely, dropping to the ground to scatter the wolves surrounding Wanda before taking off again as Spiderman swung in closer to help cover her. MODOK glared at him, and Rhodey gave a jaunty salute before blasting the ground in front of several of the wolves, causing them to jump back from the entrance to the subway with startled yips. If the wolves managed to get underground, even if they got out of range of MODOK’s mind control, they’d wreak havoc. Not to mention the headache that would be tracking the wolves through the tunnels.

“Yeah?” Barnes grunted. “Well, hop to it, man.” Rhodey rolled his eyes. Sam chuckled, obviously well aware of Rhodey’s opinion of Barnes’ gruff orders.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to dye his hair blonde?” Friday asked hopefully. 

Rhodey chuckled. “I appreciate the thought, Friday, but I don’t think we need to go that far.” Barnes was actually pretty easy to get along with, his wit and snark often hilarious. Against all logic, Rhodey liked the man. And it helped to have a sniper on their team, now that Hawkeye was more or less retired.

Vision was busy covering Wanda, and Lang was back at the Avengers Compound, out of commission with a busted leg. Apparently tangling with spiders was a bad idea when you were the size of an ant. 

“War Machine,” Shuri spoke up on a private line from the Quinjet, where she had remained with Bruce. The Hulk didn’t really wear a uniform consistently, so they couldn’t protect him from MODOK’s mind control, and nobody wanted a rampaging Hulk in downtown Manhattan. Shuri was allowed to help the Avengers in a limited capacity when her brother was in Wakanda. Nakia and Okoye were with their King, which left Shuri in the care of the Avengers.

“Go ahead, Princess,” Rhodey said, dodging one of MODOK’s mind beams. Vision’s own beam hit it mid-air, the heat and small explosion way too close for Rhodey’s comfort. The accident hadn’t really been Vision’s fault; he’d been aiming for Falcon. But the damage had been done nonetheless. If it hadn’t been for Tony, Rhodey might have never walked again. But Rhodey’s best friend had been convinced that the doctors didn’t know what they were talking about. And he’d been right, dammit.

“If you can get underneath that...thing,” Shuri told him, “there’s a kill switch on the bottom of his chair.”

There was a moment of silence as they both considered that. “You know, I’m not gonna ask,” Rhodey decided.

“Good idea,” Shuri agreed. She sent the schematics to Rhodey’s HUD, showing him where the switch (it was actually a button) was located. He winced. It wasn’t anything he could hit. He’d have to blast the underside of the chair, and hope he hit the target. Or at least disabled the chair enough for Barnes to get a clear shot at him.

Relaying the plan to his team, Rhodey waited only long enough to get confirmation before diving low, shooting at wolves as he went. It wouldn’t do any good to give MODOK time to move out of range. Sam flew next to him, then twisted away, throwing his shield straight at MODOK, who dodged it easily. The shield returned to Sam’s arms while MODOK was still screaming 

Three wolves suddenly flew past the War Machine armor, surrounded by Wanda’s red mist, and slammed into the side of MODOK’s hoverchair, tipping it. Rhodey was still too far away, but this was probably the best chance he was going to get. “Friday,” he said, kicking the suit’s speed up and rushing for MODOK..

_ “On it, Colonel,” _ Friday answered tersely, targeting systems engaging. As soon as they locked on, Rhodey fired, only meters away from the chair.

The explosion was rather unexpected, and Rhodey shouted as the force field protecting the bottom of the hoverchair repelled his attack. Friday jerked the suit to the side so the blast only clipped Rhodey, but it still slammed him into the ground.  _ “Colonel?” _ Friday asked, sounding worried.

Rhodey groaned, then tried to sit up. There was a brief moment of panic when he couldn’t. “Friday, what’s wrong with the suit?” he asked, alarmed.

_ “I made an error, Colonel,” _ Friday admitted apologetically.  _ “I miscalculated the angle and degree of impact. The Mark II’s cybernetic interface has been damaged. I am redirecting power and resources now. Approximate time until armor mobility is restored is one minute, twenty-three seconds.” _

“Uh, we might not have that much time, Friday,” Rhodey said, his voice eerily calm as he stared down the approaching wolves, menacing growls surrounding him.

There were various cries of, “Colonel!”, “Rhodes!”, “War Machine!”, but it wasn’t like Rhodey could move. He saw Sam heading for him, only to have to veer off when several of the wolves leapt up when he got close to the ground. Wanda and Vision were probably still trapped, and Barnes was too far away to be of much use.

“I’ve got you!” Spiderman called, swinging towards him, webbing wolves to the ground. 

“MODOK won’t allow you to help your teammate!” MODOK screeched, having recovered from the previous attack. 

“Spiderman, watch it!” Barnes snapped.

“I can get to him!” Peter insisted, drawing closer.

A shot rang out, pinging against the side of MODOK’s chair, but MODOK paid the sniper no mind. Instead, he shot out another one of his devastating mind beams, and Spiderman yelped as it snapped right through his webbing and he dropped towards the ground, right into the middle of a pack of wolves.

“Dammit, Parker!” Rhodey snapped. “Your aunt is going to kill me if you get eaten!”

“I’m fine!” Peter answered back, the soft  _ fwip fwip _ of his webs sounding as he pinned the wolves surrounded him. Rhodey’s attention was drawn back to the wolves approaching him as Friday’s countdown continued to flicker in the corner of his vision. 

With a low snarl, the largest of the wolves leapt at him. Rhodey had a brief moment of hysteria wondering if wolves could actually get through the armor, but the wolf never made contact for him to find out. There was a sudden commotion to Rhodey’s right, and then another wolf was thrown into the attacking wolf. No, not thrown, Rhodey realized as the two wolves hit the ground, rolling and snarling at each other.

The one that had attacked its packmate was standing with it’s back to Rhodey, fur raised in a long ridge down its back, head down and ears back as it snarled a warning.

_ “Colonel, power has been restored to the Mark II,” _ Friday told him, and Rhodey was moving, putting distance between himself and the wolves. Several of them yelped as the heat from his boot repulsors scorched them, but the one that had been defending him didn’t move from his spot.

MODOK screeched, his hoverchair . “MODOK controls you! You cannot disobey!”

The wolves had abandoned the Avengers and were now circling the one lone wolf, whose head was swinging from side to side, warning the others away with a low, continuous growl.

“Shit,” Rhodey muttered. He shouldn’t care if the wolves tore apart one of their own, but the wolf  _ had _ helped him, for whatever reason, and Rhodey would feel guilty if he let the creature die.

The others must’ve caught on to what he was doing, because three wolves went down in quick succession, shot down by the Winter Soldier, who had apparently repositioned to be closer to the fight. Captain America’s shield scattered several more wolves, and Rhodey swooped in to the opening. “Don’t try and eat me, please,” he muttered as he scooped the wolf up, the suit accommodating for the extra wait. 

The wolf gave a startled yip and twisted, then slumped, letting the War Machine armor carry him to safety. Rhodey noted that his right paw was injured, tufts of fur missing and a rather significant bite mark at the joint. He wondered if he could convince Bruce to take a look at the guy. As much as Bruce insisted he ‘wasn’t that kind of doctor’, the man was completely incapable of saying no when somebody was sick or injured right in front of him.

The wolf safely out of range, Rhodey turned back to the fight. The other Avengers had taken advantage of MODOK’s distraction to move in closer, relying heavily on Shuri and Peter’s tech to protect them from his mind control.

“War Machine, I’ve got incoming. Blow it up!” Shuri ordered!

Rhodey opened his mouth to demand to know what, exactly, he was blowing up, but then he saw it; a tiny drone zooming out of the Quinjet and heading straight for them.

“I really hope you know what you’re doing,” Rhodey muttered, ignoring the indignant huff from the princess as he took aim and fired. The repulsor blast hit the drone, and it exploded. Rhodey didn’t feel anything particularly noteworthy, but down below, the wolves started howling. Ears back and tails between their legs, they turned as one and fled. Straight towards Vision, who held something between his hands.

Vision phased through the wolf pack until he was at the approximate center, then dropped it to the ground and flew upwards. The device released a large amount of smoke upon impact, and the wolves dropped to the ground, unconscious.

“Oh, thank god,” Peter said, faintly, dropping to the ground, his cartridges spent.

“Your turn,” Sam said, turning towards MODOK, who was staring in disbelief at the unconscious wolves. Realizing that he had lost, MODOK opted to retreat, pressing a button on his chair that opened a portal he escaped into.

The Avengers stared at the empty space where MODOK had been just a moment before. “Um...could he always do that?” Peter wondered, which sparked off a heated debate about whether MODOK could teleport (and why he hadn’t before, if he could), or if he was working with somebody else (MODOK didn’t seem like the type of villain that would play well with others), and whether they could figure out a way to stop him from escaping through a portal the next time (this was a whole different conversation for the science nerds).

Rhodey ignored all of it, lifting back into the air and heading for the last place he’d left his injured defender. He didn’t know if he hoped the wolf was still there, or if he hoped it was gone, and therefore no longer his problem. SHIELD would take care of the unconscious wolves, dropping them off in the wild where they belonged once they’d been checked over for any other anomalies not explained by MODOK’s mind control. Genetic mutations and the like.

The wolf was right where he’d left it, staring mournfully in the direction of the battle. Brown eyes lifted and gave a happy yip when he saw the approaching armor, though. The wolf hopped to his feet, then flopped back down with a pained cry, shifting its right leg and glaring at it as if it had betrayed him. Rhodey chuckled, retracting the face plate as he landed. “Yeah, somebody got you good, huh?” he murmured, crouching down and holding out a gauntleted hand, waiting to see what the wolf did. He really didn’t want to bring a dangerous animal into the Compound, but this wolf was different than the rest. He’d broken MODOK’s mind control on his own, for one. And he seemed to understand that the humans were just trying to help.

The wolf leaned forward, sniffed at Rhodey’s gauntlet, then sneezed violently. “Hey, now!” Rhodey protested, grinning, “I’ll have you know that this suit was made by my best friend. And it saved your life!”

The wolf was unimpressed, and Rhodey supposed that the wolf  _ had _ saved him first; reciprocation was almost expected. He chuckled, reaching his hand out again. The wolf cocked his head and eyed the hand, then looked at Rhodey, then the hand again. Finally, he tipped his head in acceptance, and Rhodey scratched around his ear. The wolf let out a long rumble, his eyes all but closing as he pressed into Rhodey’s hand. “There, see?” Rhodey murmured. “It’s not so bad.”

The wolf turned his head and licked the gauntlet in apology, then made a choking, coughing sound and backed away, his surprisingly expressive face showing exactly how bad that had tasted. Rhodey laughed. “Come on, then,” he said. “I don’t know what wolves eat, but I assume meat. We’ve probably got something at the Compound you can have while Doc looks you over, yeah?”

He honestly didn’t know if the wolf was intelligent enough to understand, or if it would tolerate being put into the Quinjet with a bunch of humans, but Rhodey didn’t think carrying the wolf back to the Compound would be a good idea, either.

The wolf appeared to be considering. He set his right paw on the ground, then winced at the pain with a soft whimper. “Yeah, buddy, I know it hurts,” Rhodey murmured. “Come on. I promise nobody will hurt you, okay?” Well, Banner might try and give him a rabies shot or something, but compared to being torn apart by claws and teeth, the needle should barely register. He hoped.

With one last considering woof, the wolf apparently made a decision. With a soft yip, he reared up, putting his front paws on Rhodey’s armor. “Whoa there!” Rhodey protested. “That’s not cool, man. I need personal space.”

The wolf’s mouth dropped open into a very doggy-like grin, and Rhodey’s eyes widened. “No! Bad wolf! Don’t you - “ 

But it was too late, and when Rhodey showed up at the door to the waiting Quinjet with a smug-looking wolf cradled in his arms and his faceplate down, the others very carefully didn’t ask questions.

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you who were reading this as I posted, you'll notice that I turned it into a one-shot and removed the other chapters. I wasn't happy with the direction this fic was taking, so I've decided to start back at the beginning and revamp it. Unfortunately, since I have no idea how long that'll take, I'm going to leave this as a one-shot with an ambiguous ending for now. I apologize if anybody was actually still following this story.


End file.
